1. Field of the Invention
The positioning device is in the field of devices for positioning patients during surgery, and during pre- and post-operative procedures. More specifically, the positioning device relates to devices for positioning patients with myelomeningocele, commonly known as a type of spina bifida, during surgery. The positioning device is in the field of positioning devices for infants.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various devices and supports have been developed to allow medical personnel to reposition a patient during surgery with a minimum of dislocation and relative movement of the patient's body. One such device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,901 for Apparatus for Turning a Patient from a Supine to a Prone Position and Vice Versa which discloses an apparatus for use during surgery to rotate a patient from a supine to a prone position or in the opposite manner. The apparatus comprises a frame to which the patient is secured by straps or fabric. The frame has supports that maintain it at a certain height above the floor and that may be extended to lift the patient above an operating table.
The section of the frame to which the patient is attached is rotatably attached to the other portions of the frame, allowing that part of the frame, and the patient secured to it, to be rotated from a prone position to a supine position and back. The frame is a heavy, bulky apparatus that is not well-suited to transporting the patient or to long-term attachment to a patient. The apparatus also maintains the patient in a flat position with arms, legs and hips fully extended.
Similarly, a device for supporting a patient with spina bifida is described in Patent Application Publication U.S. 2008/0092300 A1 for Infant Positioner which discloses a device for supporting an infant in the fetal position and prone. The base of the device is shaped to hold the limbs of the infant in a desired fetal configuration, and straps are provided to hold the infant on the base. The base allows the infant to rest in the fetal position but only in a prone position for access to the infant's back. The base is specifically designed for use with infants with spina bifida. No support to allow supine or lateral positioning is described, only prone positioning.